Iranian Wikimedians User Group/Report/2024
Summary
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This report provides an overview of the activities carried out by the Iranian Wikimedians User Group during 2024. The group was involved in a wide range of online and offline efforts, including community events, educational programs, content campaigns, and collaborative projects with other Wikimedia affiliates.
In total, the user group organized or participated in over 20 public programs throughout the year. These included 6 major community celebrations—such as the 21st birthday of Persian Wikipedia and the one-million-article milestone, 5 educational workshops and presentations (both online and academic), 4 thematic campaigns and contests including Wiki Loves Monuments and Wikipedia Asian Month, and 2 international collaborations with Wikimedia groups in Armenia and Russia.
The group also held regular monthly online meetings, launched a rebranding process, and held a multi-day community meeting in Istanbul alongside the Wikimedia CEE Meeting, where active members had the chance to meet in person, reflect on shared experiences, and discuss the group’s future structure and direction.
Celebrations and Milestones
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In 2024, the Iranian Wikimedians User Group hosted a series of celebrations marking key milestones in the history of Persian Wikipedia. Traditionally, the community had celebrated the anniversary of Persian Wikipedia in January, aligning it with the global anniversary of Wikipedia in January. However, starting in 2024, the group decided to hold the Persian Wikipedia birthday in its actual founding month—December. This change resulted in two birthday events taking place in the same year: the 20th birthday at the beginning of 2024, and the 21st birthday at the end.
The 20th birthday of Persian Wikipedia was commemorated through in-person gatherings in Tehran, Shiraz, and Zanjan. These events brought together local contributors and long-time editors to reflect on the project’s history and its impact over two decades.
Another major milestone was reaching one million articles on Persian Wikipedia, which was celebrated through two events. The first was a public gathering in Tehran featuring speeches, contributor recognitions, and media engagement. Details of this event are documented on this page. The second was an online celebration, which enabled participation from contributors across various cities and countries. This virtual event included the announcement of the one-millionth article, group reflections, and video messages from long-time users.
To close the year, the group celebrated the 21st birthday of Persian Wikipedia with a series of in-person events in Tehran, Shiraz, and Hamburg, marking over two decades of collaborative knowledge-building. These gatherings included talks, informal community meetups, and editing sessions. The events are documented in a Diff post published in early 2025.
Educational and Outreach Activities
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In 2024, the Iranian Wikimedians User Group conducted several educational and outreach activities aimed at introducing Wikimedia projects to new audiences and deepening contributor engagement.
The year began with an in-person Wikipedia workshop at Bu-Ali Sina University in Hamedan. This event brought together university students and faculty for a hands-on introduction to Wikipedia editing. Participants learned about the five pillars, citation best practices, and policies around notability and neutrality. The workshop also encouraged attendees to continue contributing to Persian Wikipedia and other sister projects.
Later in the spring, the group gave a lecture titled "Wikipedia and Wikisource: Why and How" at the University of Göttingen in Germany. The talk explored the academic relevance of Wikipedia and Wikisource, how the platforms can be used for teaching and research, and the evolving role of volunteer contributions in digital knowledge ecosystems.
In the following months, a number of online events were held to further expand the skills of the community. One of them was the Wikipedia:FAQ session—an open-format meeting where contributors could ask questions about editing norms, resolve content disputes, and discuss community guidelines. It provided a supportive space particularly useful for newer users.
The group also held a Wikisource workshop: Zero to Hero, designed to onboard Persian-speaking contributors to the Wikisource project. The session included demonstrations on transcription and proofreading, as well as a Q&A about text validation and formatting standards on Persian Wikisource.
Finally, the year’s outreach concluded with Introduction to The Wikipedia Library, an online training session that explained how active contributors could access high-quality academic sources through the platform. The session aimed to reduce barriers to research materials, especially for editors working on complex or underrepresented topics.
Campaigns and Thematic Contests
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In 2024, the Iranian Wikimedians User Group organized and participated in several content campaigns and thematic contests that aimed to improve underrepresented topics and strengthen community engagement.
The first major campaign of the year was Women in Red 2024, a global initiative focused on increasing the visibility of women on Wikipedia. The group encouraged contributors to create and expand biographies of women, especially those from Persian-speaking contexts, helping address the gender gap in Persian Wikipedia content.
Later in the year, the group launched a new writing competition titled Wiki Loves Sports 2024. To help prepare the community and introduce the contest, an online training session was held, explaining the contest’s goals, article guidelines, and judging criteria. During the main phase of the contest, 25 users participated and collectively created 560 new articles, covering topics such as athletes, sporting events, local clubs, and national federations. The initiative was later featured in a Diff post that reflected on its success and its potential for replication in future thematic campaigns.
In the fall, the group coordinated the Iranian edition of Wiki Loves Monuments 2024 in Iran, as part of the global photography contest focused on documenting cultural heritage. A total of 205 users participated in the Iranian round, collectively uploading 2,729 photographs of historical and architectural landmarks across the country. These freely licensed images were added to Wikimedia Commons, significantly enriching the visual documentation of Iran’s diverse cultural heritage.
Toward the end of the year, the group participated in the annual Wikipedia Asian Month campaign on Persian Wikipedia. A total of 11 users took part in the contest, creating 266 new articles related to Asian countries and cultures. To help prepare the community and raise awareness, the group also hosted an online introduction session in advance, where participants were guided through the contest format, eligibility rules, and previous years' outcomes.
Winners of Wiki Loves Monuments 2024 in Iran
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International Collaborations
[edit]In 2024, the Iranian Wikimedians User Group engaged in two international collaborations, each with distinct goals and scopes.
The first was the Russia-Iran Wiki Collaboration, which focused on establishing long-term cooperation between the Persian and Russian Wikimedia communities. Rather than starting with article writing, the collaboration centered on documenting and sharing cultural heritage through photography. The two groups agreed to begin an initiative aimed at photographing historical and artistic artifacts connected to Iran and Russia that are held in each other’s countries. In its first phase, this project includes photographing Iranian artifacts housed in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg and Russian artworks displayed in Iranian institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts at the Sa’dabad Complex in Tehran. All images will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons to support cultural coverage and enhance accessibility.
To overcome the challenges of international travel and limited funding, the two groups also agreed to hold joint online meetings and webinars in English. These sessions are intended to facilitate dialogue, share community experiences, and explore common concerns across both language communities.
The second collaboration was the more content-focused Armenia-Iran Wiki Collaboration, which featured a joint edit-a-thon involving Persian- and Armenian-speaking editors. Participants created and translated articles on each other’s culture, geography, cuisine, and history. A total of 16 users contributed to this effort, resulting in 284 new or improved articles across both language editions. The initiative was a success and laid the foundation for continued cooperation between the two communities.
Community and Governance
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In September 2024, the Iranian Wikimedians User Group organized a major in-person meeting in Istanbul, held alongside the Wikimedia CEE Meeting 2024. The Iranian Wikimedians UG meeting 2024 brought together active contributors and scholarship recipients for three days of discussion, planning, and community-building.
The primary goal of this meeting was to provide a platform for sharing experiences among members of the Iranian Wikimedians User Group and to bridge the gap between different generations of the community. This event also created a great opportunity to strengthen ties between the Iranian Wikimedians User Group and other regional and international Wikimedia communities.
One of the main outcomes was the decision to establish a five-member Board of Trustees. The group also set a roadmap for holding elections in 2025, defining eligibility criteria, responsibilities, and voting procedures.
Beyond internal planning, the meeting was an opportunity for inter-regional exchange, as Iranian participants were able to connect with other Wikimedia affiliates attending the CEE Meeting. These conversations helped build bridges and opened new possibilities for future collaborations.
A detailed report and an outcomes summary were published to document the discussions and decisions made during the meeting.
Meanwhile, the group continued to hold regular monthly online meetings, which provided a space for coordinating events, sharing updates, and staying connected across geographic and generational lines.
In parallel, the group initiated a rebranding process to better reflect its evolving identity. Discussions included updates to the group’s name, visual identity, and communication strategy, with the goal of creating a more inclusive and representative public presence for the growing Iranian Wikimedia community.